ICNA Center
Alexandria, VA

All five Americans arrested in Pakistan in December 2009 participated in a youth program at this mosque. The imam and youth coordinator at the ICNA Center acknowledged the five young men attended the mosque. The youth coordinator said that he knew them only as "career-focused" and "fun-loving."[1] In a brief news conference, the imam said his moque preaches "moderation, tolerance and peaceful interaction with our neighbors and other faiths."

Ramzy Zamzam, Eman Yasir, Waqar Hasan, Umer Farooq and Khalid Farooq were all found at a house in Sargodha, Pakistan linked to the al-Qaeda linked Pakistani group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which was designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2001.

The five men told a Pakistani court that they were planning to travel to Afghanistan to "help those displaced by the war" but denied links to al Qaeda.[2] Pakistani police have accused the young men of planning terrorist attacks against a nuclear plant and other establishments in Pakistan in addition to planning to travel across the border to Afghanistan to fight jihad.

On June 24, 2010 a Pakistani court found all the men guilty of criminal conspiracy and providing funds to a terrorist group. They received 10 year prison sentences.[3]


[1] "Americans arrested in Pakistan had bright futures," CNN, December 11, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/11/pakistan.americans.profiles/.

[2] Mark Magnier and Arshad Khan, "Five men detained in Pakistan deny ties to al Qaeda in court," L.A. Times, January 4, 2010, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/04/world/la-fg-pakistan-trial5-2010jan05.

[3] Shaiq Hussain and Brigid Schulte, "Pakistani court convicts 5 N.Va. men; attorneys vow appeal," Washington Post, June 24, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/12/10/ST2009121002234.html?sid=ST2009121002234 (accessed June 24, 2010).

Related Topics: The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)

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